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Family members of the two women killed in the Algo Centre Mall collapse last summer in httpElliot LakeEND, Ont., have launched a pair of lawsuits claiming the mall’s owner showed “wanton and reckless disregard” to the well-being of their loved ones.

A worker is seen in the rubble at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario June 27, 2012. Families of the two people who died in the collapse filed lawsuits related to their deaths on Oct. 2, 2012. (NATHAN DENETTE / REUTERS)

By Kenyon WallaceToronto Star

Tues., Oct. 2, 2012

Family members of the two women killed in the Algo Centre Mall collapse last summer in Elliot Lake, Ont., have launched a pair of lawsuits claiming the mall’s owner showed “wanton and reckless disregard” to the well-being of their loved ones.

Lucie Aylwin, 37, and Doloris Perizzolo, 74, died after the roof of the busy shopping mall collapsed on June 23. The women were standing at a lottery kiosk when the mall roof caved in, tumbling two storeys onto them.

Five family members of the women are seeking a total of $11.25 million in punitive and aggravated damages from the Ontario ministry of Labour, the City of Elliot Lake, Eastwood Mall president Robert Nazarian, Eastwood Mall, Inc., and engineering firm M.R. Wright and Associates.

“There was no reason for the mall to fall apart, especially when the thing was inspected,” Réjean Aylwin, Lucie’s father, told the Toronto Star Tuesday from his home in Sudbury. “Then you turn around a month later, and the mall falls apart. There’s got to be something wrong somewhere. Somebody’s got to be responsible.”

He added that his family is “doing good” in the wake of Lucie’s death. “We’ve got to get over it. It’s tough, but what are you going to do?”

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The lawsuits allege that Eastwood Mall Inc. and Nazarian were negligent in their inspection and maintenance of the mall and that they “knew or ought to have known that Algo Centre Mall was not in proper condition for use.”

The lawsuits also allege that M.R. Wright and Associates, the Sault Ste. Marie-based engineering firm that inspected the mall just two months before the collapse, “failed to properly document and report the problems with the structure of the Algo Centre Mall” and that the firm’s conduct “fell below the standard expected of an engineering firm in the advice it provided with respect to the structural integrity” of the mall.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The mall owner’s lawyer, Derrick Fulton, said there was no information that his clients were aware of that would have led them to believe there were structural problems.

“It’s certainly not a secret that our clients were always dealing with a leaky roof, but no one in their wildest imaginations would have thought that leaky roof would have led to a catastrophic collapse of a building,” Fulton said.

The collapse of the roof, which doubled as the mall’s parking lot, prompted Premier Dalton McGuinty to launch a public inquiry, which has 18 months to investigate the accident. In addition, the Ontario Provincial Police are in the midst of a criminal investigation, while a $30-million class action lawsuit is in progress against the mall’s owner.

Roger Oatley, the lawyer acting for the families in this week’s lawsuits, said he has never sought punitive damages in a case like this.

“It takes people time to get over the shock of losing a loved one when it's so needless and so sudden,” he said. “They just want to feel that there’s a sense of justice.”

Oatley said he expects the suit will last up to two years, which will allow for the inquiry’s findings to come to light.

The plaintiffs are Doloris Perizzolo’s daughters, Teresa Perizzolo and Cindy Lee Allan, and Réjean and Rachelle Aylwin, Lucie Aylwin’s parents, as well as Stephane Aylwin, Lucie Aylwin’s brother. The lawsuits claim $2,250,000 for each family member.

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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